atatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatat >> jennifer: i'm jennifer granholm. tonight in "the war room," it was a big day on the campaign trail. for the most battered participant in this 2012 election. the truth. >> it's insulting to say that these are political speeches because that's one thing i do not do is political speeches. >> you can deny it. you can suppress it. you can mock it. you can ignore it when it is right in front of your face but here's the thing about the truth. a, it's bigger than you. b, it has more friends. before you line up against it, just remember that history picks winners and losers and all of the winners have one thing in common. >> jennifer: five days until the election!

and 72 hours since super storm sandy barreled head-long into the jersey shore. since then very serious stuff. whole neighborhoods like breezy point, queens, have been burned to the ground. houses have tumbled into the ocean. 87 people have died. seven million have lost power. and there are estimates that the storm could cost $50 billion. whole stretches of new york subway system are paralyzed. and that's forced thousands of commuters into their cars and in search of fuel. unfortunately, the majority of gas stations in new jersey are shut down and about 75% of them because they have no gas no power or they're out of both. new york senator chuck schumer assured frustrated citizens the gas crisis should end shortly but tensions still ran high. this is one scene outside of one of the few open stations in brooklyn.

[horns honking] >> i tried to go to queens. i've been to at least 15 gas station but the traffic is unbelievable. it is like something you see in the movies. >> jennifer: the aftermath of the storm threatens our election. if communities struggle to recover next tuesday new jersey is actually deploying military trucks to serve as polling places in storm-battered areas. for the longer term, the devastation serves as evidence that climate change is, indeed, causing more destructive storms. in fact, recent studies from yale university find cyclone intensity has increased dramatically over the last 30 years and the bigger and bigger storms are going to cost an additional $54 billion in damage every year worldwide. today, new york mayor michael bloomberg further legitimized that position when he endorsed

president obama specifically because of the president's leadership on climate change. he contrasted the candidates in this way. one sees climate change as an urgent problem that threatens our planet. one does not. i want our president to place scientific evidence and risk management above electoral politics. with that, mayor bloomberg, as much as hurricane sandy has forced climate change into the middle of the presidential race. hallelujah. that's exactly where it should be. someplace where republicans can no longer ignore it. not to say they're not going to try. governor romney did his best today while he stood sort of oddly smiling and ulterly silent as a heck lir brought the issue to him during his remarks on the storm. [crowd booing]

[crowd chanting u.s.a.] >> jennifer: that look on his face, it's as if he was reminding himself of the deal he struck to get this far. that he wouldn't talk about the climate. even though when he was governor he acknowledged global warming as a real problem that requires real solutions. but instead, mitt romney is going to speak only for his corporate funders and the dirty energy empires that many of them run doing what he has to keep the pipelines of oil and campaign cash flowing. and that includes pandering to the far right who shout u.s.a.

rather than confronting this frightening reality that we have entered a new normal in which everyday life is punctuated by frequent and intensifying natural climate disasters. and the megaphone of this fringe wing fox news, keeps reinforcing that message. >> where's the proof? these global warming claims have been debunked time and time again. >> you know what the problem is? there's more people living at the shore so there are more impacts. this is nothing to do with global warming. >> you can pretty much predict moments after a catastrophe global warming freaks will link it to global warming. >> next five to ten years we're probably going to see more storms around the eastern seaboard. has nothing to do with global warming. >> jennifer: that is deliberately deceitful. it is infuriating and frankly it's dangerous and you know what? it's unpatriotic. maybe finally maybe finally the

rest of us, the rational among us have reached a breaking point when we're not going to be willing any longer to get the shrill voices of extremism trump the scientific ones. when we'll listen to those who warned us for decades that we need to act. the latest version of bloomberg business week has this simple and brilliant cover. it's global warming stupid. this storm has ushered in an unprecedented national conversation about climate change. we cannot squander this opportunity to shift the trajectory of the conversation and the future of our planet. afterall the climate itself has already changed. governor andrew cuomo said as much in his remarks today. >> i don't believe anymore that this is once in a lifetime or once in 100 years or once in a

generation or just a fluke. you look at the number of devastating floods, the number of devastating fires the number of extreme weather patterns is going up. that is a fact. that is a fact. >> jennifer: it is a fact. and now we have the heavy burden of dealing with this new normal. as benjamin franklin said, you know what? an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. the country has struggled with that concept during the healthcare debate and we're struggling with it again today. but the payoff is worth the fight. and now is the time to take action. and to finally create a national energy policy which i think we should call our new manhattan project. at a minimum, it would do a national energy policy would do four things. first, it would create demand for renewable energy. we could start by deciding to get 25% of our energy from renewable resources by 2025.

then ratchet it up from there. second, a national energy policy would make key investments in research and technology and in this antiquated energy infrastructure with things like smart grid technology to transport renewable energy. third, an energy policy has to be conservative. to save energy, to conserve, to find ways to use it efficiently and sparingly. and finally a national energy policy would enlist private businesses to manufacture the products that create and generate renewable energy. things like solar panels, wind turbines, they should be made here in america. we shouldn't have to buy them from finland or from china. there are already leaders stepping up to bat on this issue. there is a bipartisan slate of brave, truth tellers. you've seen it this week. mayor bloomberg.

governor cuomo. governor chris christie. president obama. and when we are fortunate enough to see the president-elected to that second term, that group needs to take this agenda to congress and pass it within 100 days. lead gentlemen! lead! and we, you and i, need to pressure them to do it. the hurricane has forced the issue. now it is up to us to take action on it for the good of the nation. joining me now via skype is james west, editor of climate desk who has been reporting on the aftermath of the storm. james is coming to us from the ground in new york and for the latest, he's going to tell us what's going on. thanks so much for joining us in "the war room" tonight james. >> governor, great to be here. >> jennifer: all right. so you have toured -- let me get to the basics here and get some information out to our viewers. you've toured some of the most devastated areas like breezy

point in queens and you also filmed that video that we just saw of the gas station in brooklyn. can you tell us what does it look like on the ground now? >> things are far from being stable and arcane in new york right now. i did go to breezy point. that was one of the most extreme things i've ever seen as a reporter. we waited -- waded five deep into this remote peninsula just by the atlantic ocean and discovered this horrible scene. 100 homes over 100 homes destroyed by what can only be destroyed as a massive fire, swept up by hurricane sandy and lit the entire neighborhood, complete devastation there. in little ways, the whole of new york is affected in one way or another. today we went and saw traffic snarling through part of brooklyn where people were desperately trying to find gas. people on empty trying to move around the city is impossible right now. the subway -- a little bit is

back online today. still largely unavailable to most new yorkers i would have to say. lower manhattan the dead zone one resident described it to me as, still dark. many elderly residents there without help, without power without water. it is still very grim on the ground here. >> jennifer: hmm. so with the images that are coming out like the ones that you have filmed, after this, do you think that those images and the trauma in new york and new jersey could finally be the catalyst for a national energy plan and long-term investment to make it happen? >> well, simply the people that we were talking to on the ground we asked them, you know, why do you live here? this is in breezy point in queens. why do you take the risk? it is very low-lying. one of them said i'm starting to think about that again. this is a difficult decision.

this is going to happen more. we're at-risk. we're surrounded by water here. from my perception on the ground here in new york doing reporting around town, people are beginning to think about this as an issue to really -- it is difficult to say whether it is a tipping point as such. but then right up the ladder, you've seen, as you mentioned before politicians talk about this now push it right into the center stage. so whether or not it is going to be a tipping point for the general population, i guess we'll wait to see in particularly the poll on tuesday will be a big indicator of that, i think. it has been on their minds and how could it not be when there are trees down in every street. nobody has mobile reception in so many parts of new york and new jersey and all of these places. so yes, it is playing on people's minds and i would have to say, it is entering people's thinking in the long-term too. >> jennifer: obviously the people who are directly impacted are thinking about the short term, how do i get electricity?

how am i able to get to work? do i have the act to get food? those are important short-term needs but then you have an intermediate term need. the rebuilding and do you rebuild in a way which is smart you have infrastructure that can withstand sea waters that are -- have risen and even longer term than that, are we going to do something to mitigate the problem in the future? that's really the question. let me ask you something real basic though. i only have just a minute. right now, there seems to be a lot of discussion about whether new york in the immediate should hold its annual marathon this weekend. do you think the city is prepared? >> this is burning up the blogs. on the one side, they say it is going to be a platform to raise money for charity to rally behind the city. on the other hand, people are saying why are you diverting precious taxpayer resources the police cleanup crews people trying to deliver much-needed food and water to lower east side and the east village the dead zone. why are you diverting those

resources to stage a big event? so it's burning up the blogs. there are people on both sides of this. i have to say from seeing the destruction downtown in particular and at breezy point it strikes me as having a bit of a damp to the city and what people in the city are going through to stage a massive international event that actually runs through central park where people are still taking chainsaws to trees. >> jennifer: it will be interesting to see. obviously mayor bloomberg has his ear to the ground. i appreciate you coming inside "the war room," james and for reporting in such a sensitive way on what is happening in new york and in new jersey. thanks so much. james west of climate desk. and coming up, we've been saying it all year. win the presidency, keep the senate. take back the house. well a victory in illinois by tammy duckworth might help make that last one come true and she is going to be joining us right after the break. plus candidates took to the

swing states today. the fact of the matter is they are on the line. a big key to a big win on tuesday. nobody knows that better than cal penn. we're just getting started on a thursday good morning ladies and gentlemen, i'm captain whitaker. >> there's 102 souls on board. >> let's get em' tucked in we're ready to push. >> current tv knows there are two sides to every story. >> i have no control on my side! >> this is south jet 227, we are in a dive! here we go! brace for impact! >> you saved a lot of lives. > denzel washington saving the day. >> he was very worried. >> looks like a cool character. >> he reminds you of. >> sully. >> the guy who landed the plane in the hudson. >> he has to be a hero. >> he definitely a hero, yea. >> now, what if you heard the other side of the story? >> i had a couple beers the night before the flight. >> you had alcohol in your system. that could be life in prison. >> are you hiding something? >> well, there's a darker side

to this guy. >> makes it a lot more >> there's more depth there. >> he's not god himself. >> so it makes it much more interesting. >> you saved my mom. >> it's much more intriguing now. >> while there are two sides to every story... >> it's a lie. ... in the end, there's only one truth. >> flight. only in theaters november 2nd.

you disgust me. prove it. enough is enough. d-con baits are specially formulated to kill in one feeding. guaranteed. d-con. get out. >> can you imagine in the middle of a disaster to ask for appropriations for mitigating future disasters? that's why i said no on that second round of appropriations that katrina because they spent it on massage parlors and everything you can think of in addition to what was necessary. >> jennifer: that's iowa tea party congressman and crazytown resident steve king. he's one of 11 congressional members who days after hurricane katrina voted against $51.8 billion in relief spending in louisiana and mississippi. and now, just days after

hurricane sandy he obviously has not changed his tune. and it is that kind of radical radical/insane thinking that's gotten him into his tightest re-election race yet. the latest ppp poll has him running three points ahead of his democratic opponent, christie vilsack. 48% to 45% in iowa. congressman king is not alone. several of his fellow representatives from tea party crazytown are in the political fights of their lives as well. begin with minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann. she's off the charts in name recognition. she raised $18 million more than her democratic opponent jim graves. her district has an 8% republican registration edge but still she only leads graves by 6 points. florida congressman allen west, he's raised $17 million compared to the $3.5 million of his democratic opponent patrick

murphy. but polls show murphy leading west 48% to 47%. and, of course, we just cannot forget illinois congressman joe walsh -- perhaps the craziest of them all. he's answering a question about women's reproductive rights. take a listen. >> if a woman's life is at issue, would you say she was allowed to have a abortion? >> let me say there's no sun exception. with modern technology and science, you can't find one instance. this is an issue that opponents of life throw out there to make us look unreasonable. >> jennifer: actually, congressman, i think you're doing a pretty good job of looking unreasonable on your own. fortunately, voters in walsh's district agree because the latest polls have him trailing his democratic opponent tammy duckworth 40% to 54% for her! and tonight i'm pleased to be joined by iraq war vet joe

walsh opponent and congressional candidate, tammy duckworth coming to us from chicago. tammy, welcome back inside "the war room." >> thank you for having me, again, governor. how are you today? >> jennifer: i'm great and getting better all the time. it sounds like you are too. except that i understand that the tea party super pac freedom works, funded by the koch brothers has announced $1.5 million ad buy supporting congressman walsh to, you know, prevent you from beating him. how are you fighting that? >> you know, it is $1.5 million. as of yesterday afternoon now or never is back. they put in another $1.1 so it is $2 of 7 million in horribly negative, untrue tv commercials for the next five days. they're trying to buy this election. they fought this congressmen. we're fighting back $10 $20 at a time. my average contribution is $50.

his is about a million dollars for the super pacs. it is ground game and it is everyday people refusing to let these people buy the democracy. >> jennifer: so who is behind now or never? >> so now or never is funded by americans for limited government and a gentleman by the name of howard rich. and mr. walsh actually very clearly states in his bio that he helped found it and he claims he doesn't know it even exists even though he founded it. we looked in his latest campaign filings, it turns out he tried to hide the fact he got a maximum contribution from mr. rich and rich's wife by not as listing him as howard rich, listing him as richy howard thinking we would be too dumb to figure this out. >> jennifer: let's step back for one second. what is it? outspent ten to one? >> 12.5 to one. >> jennifer: so if you're

elected, please tell me you'll hen to push for a kush on citizens united. >> absolutely. we're not going to let these millionaires and billionaires buy this election. you know, they bought on paper joe walsh. now or never actually boasted to the local newspaper that they were going to bury tammy duckworth in a sea of negative ads and they're delivering on their promise but you know, governor, they didn't bury me in iraq and they damn well are not going to bury me now. >> jennifer: you go! that's what i'm talking about! despite all of this outside support, they're not fooling the folks you have been in contact with. you're leading. why do you think that despite all of that money you are still leading? because of that spine you have, that's what i think. >> well, you know, i am leading because we're talking about the issues. we're talking about the social security and medicare guarantees about student loans. mr. walsh has insulted just about everyone in the district from latinos to african-americans to women to my military service to seniors.

and they're done with him. they're done with him because he does not remember the word servant in the words public servant. his job is to serve the people of the district. >> jennifer: i want to play a clip with one of your debates with walsh and have our viewers get an appreciation for it. >> last point, i was marching in a parade in schaumburg sunday, two days before the democratic convention when tammy duckworth was on a stage down in charlotte, if you can look at the picture picking out a dress for her speech tuesday night. >> jennifer: what is he even talking about? i know you have to keep your composure but i imagine -- i don't know how you can bite your tongue with this guy. >> my answer to him on that was yes, i do sometimes try to decide whether i should warp the red dress or the blue dress. but for most of my adult life,

i've worn one color. it is called camouflage. he needs to back off. >> jennifer: ooh! all right. so last question for you he's a poster boy for the tea party. if you win do you see that -- your race is really symbolic for other races across the country. do you see the tea party losing influence? >> i hope so. not as long as the super pacs are out there. yes, i'm leading right now. i expect the margin will close significantly because i'm being outspent 12 to one. we'll never be able to raise that kind of money. i'm getting $10 $20 $50 donations as we speak. we're going to fight back the way we know howie is one small american person fighting back as we can. against these megarich super pacs. you know, we're going to fight back. but as long as the super pacs are allowed free reign and you can have the koch brothers write

two checks to fund an entire super pac then it's really hard to think that the tea partiers would lose influence. >> jennifer: that's exactly why we have to make sure you get in office so that you can help to change the system. tammy duckworth, thank you so much for coming inside "the war room." running for congress in illinois. we hope we celebrate with you on tuesday night. up next, an election roundtable to end all election roundtables courtesy of the best political minds west of the mississippi. we'll bring you inside political junky paradise. stay with us!

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and sea food differently! >> jennifer: there's a familiar face back on the campaign front. president obama returned to the race today after three days directing the federal response to hurricane sandy. he stopped today in swing states wisconsin, colorado and nevada

where he had this barb for mitt romney's policies. >> obama: with a straight face, he's offering them up as change. he's saying he's the candidate of change. now, let me tell you nevada, we know what change looks like. [ cheering ] >> obama: and what the governor is offering sure ain't change. >> >> jennifer: chump change. governor romney for his part worked some jabs into his speech at one of his three stops in virginia today. >> romney: he's going to create the department of business. [ laughter ] >> romney: i don't think adding a new chair in his cabinet will help add millions of jobs on main street. >> jennifer: if the rnc was any indication, mitt romney knows a lot about useless chairs. with five days before the election, this is no time to play nice. to dissect today's news, we've

got a panel that covers every aspect of a war room. strategist karen skelton who worked in the clinton white house. she runs her own phil, skelton strategies. we have joe gar foley who is following the race for the "san francisco chronicle" and pollster from lake research looking at the latest numbers from across the swing states. great to have you all inside "the war room. the only reason why i said that joe is because you're not really a reporter. i just wanted to preserve your -- so let me ask you, there was a brief detente while the storm stuff was festering. now they're back on the campaign trail swinging. do you think they should be negative this last weekend? >> it is the checkered flag. it's time. it's done. >> jennifer: meaning they should or shouldn't? >> they should. this is the time now -- >> jennifer: this is it. >> if they're ever going to get

their base out they have a few more days. it's red meat time. they're throwing everything they can out there just to get their base. >> jennifer: speaking of red meat david so we've got all of the polls this barrage of polls that shows this momentum in favor of the president. and the romney team seems to be throwing up stuff like crazy in wild states like in minnesota which is as blue as can be. >> what's really going on is they're still trying to get wisconsin and wisconsin really is in play. those media markets in minnesota cover part of wisconsin but while they're at it, they're going to -- they're going to say we're going for minnesota and make people excited about it. but they're not going to win. >> jennifer: joe interesting to me, you had colin powell ad go up today. i want to play a little bit for our viewers. >> housing is starting to pick up. the president saved the auto

industry. and the actions he's taken with respect to protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid. and so i think we ought to keep on the track that we're on. >> jennifer: so before i ask you about the track we're on, you know, he puts up this ad by a former republican. you have another former republican endorsing him today which is mayor bloomberg. you have him standing next to chris christie. this aura of bipartisanship, very interesting huh? >> oh, yeah. at this point it's all -- this is all people jumping on the bandwagon if you will. the endorsements of these people won't go -- >> jennifer: really? >> colin powell endorsed him four years ago. the blue thing helps but bloomberg was a democrat for many years. >> jennifer: you're drowning it man. >> a bucket of cold water. >> jennifer: what about chris christie? didn't it make him look -- >> absolutely.

>> good few days for him to look like, instead of a partisan candidate, like a leader of the country and all of those things help. i think bloomberg helps honestly in florida. >> that's a good point. i do think the storm helps him. the storm did help him because he gave him this opportunity but a lot of presidential campaigns come down to this. can you take advantage of an odd opportunity that comes your way? i think he has in this case. >>. >> jennifer: well so there is another weird opportunity for romney. joe biden is doing the letterman show, doing the top ten list, whatever, i'm not sure. should mitt romney do it? >> no. >> jennifer: too much risk? >> too much risk at this point. i think that he -- he should not risk making a mistake at this point. >> jennifer: isn't that why he's not answering any questions from reporters at this point? >> he turned off the mics about a week ago ten days ago. "saturday night live" has been trying to get him for a long time. that would be a little more risky.

if he reads the top ten list in letterman, that's scripted. but if it is a live setting where he needs to ad-lib or it is outside of his comfort zone. >> he hasn't said anything unscripted. >> jennifer: hang on. a lot more to cover. they'll stick around. there is still one big piece of news coming before tuesday's election. that's tomorrow's jobs report. we'll get into that after the break and a little later we'll welcome actor and activist cal penn into "the war room. hopefully he will ease my concerns that the youth vote is slacking off. you're (vo) cenk uygur is many things. >>oh really? >>"if you ever raise taxes on >>the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! ♪ ♪ the trucks are going farther.

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>> jennifer: in florida, this evening, shows president obama with a 2 percentage point lead in florida. 48% to 46%. the sunshine state's 29 electoral votes key to mitt romney's hopes. in ohio, that same poll shows president obama also up only 2 but two percentage points. 47% to 45%. in wisconsin where the president started his post-hurricane campaign today an abc news "wall street journal" maris poll has him up 49 to 46%. but governor romney is leading in colorado which is another state president obama visited today. the lead there is just one point, 47% to 46%. that's according to reuters ipso. back with us our three political junkies extraordinaire. pollster david herman, joe garifoli. from all of the polls, there were 29 polls that came out.

you are the pollster. this momentum, is it baked in? >> the advantage obama has is baked in inn a lot of the states. i would be shocked to see romney take ohio. and if he can't take ohio, it is really hard to see what his path is. >> jennifer: virginia? >> i think obama takes virginia as well and i think he does it thanks to latino and asian voters. >> jennifer: interesting. he takes iowa. >> i think he takes iowa. >> and wisconsin. >> and wisconsin. >> and nevada. [ laughter ] >> those are all close. every one of those is close. but it is an advantage for him. >> jennifer: karen this is the report of the travel schedule of the candidates over these last five campaign days. the last five -- that are scheduled. so 17 events. obama has six events in ohio. you can see where his priorities -- three in wisconsin. two in colorado. iowa has one and one in nevada,

virginia new hampshire and florida. that's all right? is that where you would be telling them to spend -- >> he wins ohio, he wins. i don't see there's any path for romney to win this without ohio. >> jennifer: if romney won everything else -- >> he could win everything else but it makes it almost impossible for him. i would be in ohio. i would be in virginia. i would be in iowa. >> jennifer: would you be in north carolina joe? >> no. >> jennifer: really? >> yeah. >> jennifer: even though early voting is -- what about florida? >> no. i would spend more time -- >> jennifer: 2 points up. >> you can block -- you know, you force the other campaign to spend money. you keep it tight and it is a chance -- there's absolutely no way he can get florida. >> the thing about this race which i've never seen before in

the five presidential races i've worked on, there's more money than god. you can put it anywhere. $3 billion so who cares where you put it. you can put it anywhere. >> jennifer: romney is spending money in minnesota and other places saying he wants to expand -- isn't that just throwing money away? >> yeah. >> jennifer: joe the tomorrow, the jobs report comes out. and so can it make a difference? >> no. people's opinions about the jobs were baked in, as we were talking about earlier months ago. unless it's super crazy one way or another which there is no indication there will be. >> jennifer: the ad we showed with colin powell saying we're on the right track essentially do you think people are feeling that and seeing it? >> they're beginning to feel it. numbers are still upside down, still a drag on the president but the job approval numbers for the president for the last three to four weeks have been consistent -- gallup which has been conservative in other ways and the other polls right at

50%. if he's at 50 or over, you can't. >> jennifer: final round. predictions. give me your prediction of who wins. i hope you say the right guy or i'm kneecapping you. [ laughter ] >> i'm calling it like i see it. 294 votes for obama. >> jennifer: 294 for obama. he takes it. >> i'm going to be conservative which i'm never accused of being and i'm going to do 281. >> jennifer: just make sure i know who your candidate is. >> obama. >> jennifer: joe? >> if in good at predictions, i would be in vegas. [ laughter ] >> jennifer: well, i think -- i'm going to go with karen. i agree. i was going to say 277 or above. but actually, i think it will be closer to 300. i really do. david merman, karen joe

thanks. if you want to get our youth out to vote, you have to speak to their issues. few do that better current tv encourages you to vote on november 6th but just as importantly to take the time to learn about each candidate's stance on the issues that matter to you. to help you make informed decisions, watch current tv's politically direct lineup. only on current tv. vote smart. our democracy depends on an informed electorate.

>> jennifer: you're back inside "the war room." i'm jennifer granholm. president obama carried a whopping 66% of the youth vote in 2008. compared to senator john mccain who got just 32%. according to a new poll by the center for information and research on civic learning engagement, if the election were held today, the president would

carry 52% of the youth vote compared to governor romney's 35%. now, obviously a 717-point spread is nothing to -- a 17-point spread is nothing to bark at but the obama team is hoping to get closer to the 2008 spread. to rally this important voting block, they're dispatching high profile surrogates like actor cal penn to universities across the country especially in the last days. >> everyone who comes to our youth events tends to have a reason why they're there. in 2012, it's because they're better off. their buddies are home from iraq. my friends that didn't have healthcare access have it. >> jennifer: that was cal in north carolina which is a state that president obama only carried by 14,000 votes in 2008. and tonight we're so happy to welcome cal penn back inside "the war room." thanks for joining us. >> thank you governor.

how's it going? >> jennifer: oh, man i'm just itching to get back out on the trail because watching all of the polls and all of the returns and you are on the trail. you're in florida. give us an update. what's it looking like on the ground? >> florida is amazing. i spent the morning signing up new volunteers for our get out the vote effort here. huge folks here. the first lady is down in florida all day today. we're seeing excitement from you know, young people, old folks women's groups, everyone in between. neighbors bringing their neighbors out to early vote which is huge. not just here in florida but in a bump of our early vote states. i'm feeling really good. can't do my job without saying we want and need your help, too. come out and give us a hand. >> jennifer: that's exactly right. let's talk about the tv with the youth. that's a point that you have been dispatched to help with. what's being done to address an apparent lack of 2008 level at

least enthusiasm among young people? how can he get back the mojo? >> i don't fully buy that statistic and i'll tell you why. it doesn't take into account any of the newly registered voters that we've got. the president appointed all of the amazing youth vote directors in all of the battleground states. you've got this guy rob abraham in north carolina. folks in wisconsin colorado, every battleground -- they have spent the better part of the last year and a half registering new voters. they have really been swelling the rolls here. they didn't vote before. a lot of them turned 18 or 19 or 20 their first presidential election. these are the folks who were incredibly fired up. numbers are huge well over what we saw in 2008. i think that's why 17-point spread is great. i think we're going to see much more than that particularly in the battleground states. they're excited about all of the results in the last four years and to the extent -- sorry, go

ahead -- >> jennifer: i was going to say the youth vote is critical and making it easy for them to vote is critical. having events where they can vote early or get their ballots et cetera. tomorrow is the last day of early voting in florida. what's the game plan after that? how are we going to get young people, college voters, to polls on tuesday? >> so florida -- i think florida early vote goes through saturday. the remaining days in florida and all of the other places i was in columbus, ohio, at our ohio state office a couple of days ago we've got van pools taking people there to early vote. we've got dorm cap tapes in all of the places to vote or to early vote on the election day itself. so there is a huge effort. it a lot of it is peer to peer kind of stuff. a lot of is well-equipped with a lot of times on election day there are is misinformation. did the polls close? no. here are the networks they can

take advantage of. here are folks that can take them to the polls and for our friends who early voted a lot of the folks who will be volunteering with us. >> jennifer: i want to play a clip of your address to the democratic national convention. >> okay. >> i ask all of you young people to join me. you don't even have to put pants on. go to commit.barack obama.com and register right there. you know what? the oldies out there you guys can do it, too. let's keep fighting for a president who has never stopped fighting for us. >> jennifer: i love that. no pants no pants. >> i'm not wearing pants right now. [ laughter ] >> which is the nice thing about doing these interviews. >> jennifer: for the record, i'm wearing pants. anyway, you're obviously a natural. do you envision, kal a day when you might run for office? could we twist your arm? >> no. that's flattering. it is not something that i think i have the blood for. i remain really inspired by this president. i think particularly having had

a chance to work at the white house and see how he was fighting behind the scenes. i talked about it in the dnc speech. this doesn't make it on to the news really is how he was fighting for doubling the pell grant or don't ask don't tell. it is almost a blip when these things get done but i joke in my campaign stump speech sometimes that right when the president was doing a lot of work on youth entrepreneurship and increasing youth employment around the same time that there was that clip of him killing a fly in an interview. >> jennifer: one hand. >> ninja obama kills fly with one hand. it was impressive. i don't know that it needed so many days of press coverage. having had the chance to see this president fight hard for young people is inspiring to me. i don't think i would run for office. it is the next five days, getting the president re-elected. >> jennifer: all right. you're a hero. thank you so much. you could be making a lot of money doing something else right now. instead, you're fighting for your country in the way that you can. kal penn, thanks for joining us.

surrogate on the campaign trail for president obama. much more to do on this thursday night edition of "the war room." don't go away. get irresistibly clean and fresh carpets in your home with resolve deep clean powder. the moist powder removes three times more dirt than vacuuming alone while neutralizing odors for a clean you can see, smell and really enjoy. don't just vacuum clean. resolve clean.

>> read my lips. >> jennifer: tonight we continue with part four of our series the selling of the presidents with a look at celebrity ads. now, whether the celebrity is extremely smart like george clooney or maybe just really talent and good-looking like george clooney politicians love getting a-list support on the campaign trail. current tv's barry lank has our report.

>> hello. i'm tom hanks. i want barack obama to be the next president of our country. >> president obama is not the first presidential candidate to wrangle support from top celebrities. john f. kennedy was a magnet for the stars and his famous friends also appeared in tv ads. >> hi. my name is harry belafonte. >> announcer: ladies and gentlemen, henry fonda. >> every presidential candidate since has enlisted celebrities to endorse them in ads. >> i really think he's an honest man. that's why i'm voting for him. >> mike huckabee is a lifelong hunter who will protect our second amendment rights. >> celebrities have a cache that politicians love. they're coming from outside of the political process. voters are not as cynical toward hollywood figures as they are about politicians. one of the most successful ads was obama's yes we can video. that particular ad went viral over the internet so there were hundreds of thousands of people

who ended up seeing that. the most valuable celebrity endorsement ads are the a-list celebrities where they're so famous, you don't even need to give their name. >> but obama's rivals run campaign ads trying to use his hollywood advantage against him. >> he's the biggest celebrity in the world. but is he ready to lead? >> it is probably a plus for obama but this election is pitting cache against cash as billionaires pump the big bucks into romney's campaign, it remains to be seen what celebrity currency can buy. >> jennifer: all right everybody. that's it for our show tonight. thank you so much for joining us here in "the war room." you have a great night. we'll see you back here